Led power indicator lights

[BanditOne1]

Hello guys. Building N Gauge layout. 10 Switches. Installing two light led’s on switches so I can see which line is open. Also installing 500 ma resistors to prevent led’s from burning out. Any thoughts?

 

BanditOne1

 

[cteno4]

Bandit

 

How are you powering the leds? If from dc track power they will only light up when you are running a train. Also in some situations depending on your track plan you may have both on for a point if power is fed from other directions. Also you will need to add a bridge rectifier between the track and led as the led will only work in one polarity, the bridge rectifier will take both polarities and only put out one polarity for your led. 600 ohm (not ma) resistor should work fine with 12v max. R=V/I. So R = 12/0.02 or 600. Always best to add a bit more onto the resistor so a 680 ohm.

 

jeff

[Sheffie]

There are plenty of knowledgeable people talking in the electrical forum. This sounds like a much simpler version of putting lights in coaches (to my mind, at least). 

 

Have you looked at how Kato’s Illuminated buffers work? You probably want exactly the same circuitry